Board for water sport or snow sport and a method of manufacturing thereof

ABSTRACT

A board for water or snow activity includes a planar body having an edge joining vertices of the planar body, and a rail member defined by one or more flexible strips that continuously engage an edge portion of the board, adjacent to the vertices. A protective rail for protecting a water or snow activity board includes elongated flexible strips bent around an edge portion of the board, adjacent a vertex of the board, continuously engaging an edge portion of the board at the vertex. A method for attaching a protective rail to a water sport or snow sport activity board includes engaging an edge of the sports board with flexible protective strips and bending the strips around a vertex of the board, to continuously engage an edge portion of the board, adjacent the vertex of the board.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a board for water or snow sport, andparticularly, although not exclusively, to a water or snow activityboard having a protective rail disposed on an edge of the board.

BACKGROUND

A number of water sports or snow activities require the uses of a board.The board is usually a planar body which is arranged to support a rideron a medium such as water, snow or ice whilst the rider is in motion.These boards have an important function of supporting the rider whilstalso permitting the rider to interact with the water, snow or icesurface so as to allow the rider to perform various movements ormanoeuvres whilst undertaking the water or snow activity.

Examples of these boards include kite boards, wake boards, surf boards,snow boards or the like. These boards are all useful in supporting arider on water or snow. In the case of kite boards, for example, therider may be supported on a kite board whilst being powered on thewater's surface by a kite. In these cases, the board may be designed sothat the when rider applies pressure to certain portions of the board, achange in the balance and/or a change in the water pressure underneaththe board will allow the rider to perform certain types of manoeuvres.

Designers have noticed that the shape and profile of an edge of theboard will affect the performance of the board in use. This is becausethe edge will directly interact with the water or snow on which theboard is travelling on and usually acts as the starting point in whichthe board interact with the water or snow during a manoeuvre. In certainsituations, the rider may use the edge to dig into the snow or water soas to create turbulence or friction to steer the board or to performcertain types of manoeuvres. As such, the profile of the edge is usuallydesigned for certain types of uses or performances.

However, the leading edge of the board is also a part of the board whichis most prone to damage due to collisions or rough transportation. Oncedamaged, the profile of the edge may be changed and these changes mayaffect the performance or balance of the board.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a board for water or snow activity comprising: a planar bodyhaving an edge joining one or more vertices of the body, wherein theedge is engaged to a rail member defined by one or more flexible stripseach being arranged to be sufficiently flexible so as to continuouslyengage with an edge portion adjacent to the one or more vertices.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the one or more flexible strips isarranged to continuously engage with the edge of the planar body.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the one or more flexible stripsare made from a material characterised in that the strips are eachsufficiently able to be bent to follow an outline of the one or morevertices.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the one or more flexible stripsare made from a thermoplastic.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the thermoplastic is polyurethane.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the rail member is defined by asingle strip arranged to continuously engage with the edge of the board.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the rail member is arranged to beengaged to the planar body by use of a bonding agent.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the bonding agent is an adhesive.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the board is a kite board.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the board is a wake board.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a protective rail for protecting a water or snow activity boardcomprising:

one or more elongated strips each arranged to be sufficiently flexibleso as to bend around an edge portion adjacent to a vertex of the wateror snow activity board to continuously engage with the edge portion ofthe vertex.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the one or more elongated stripsis made from a thermoplastic.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the thermoplastic ispolyurethane.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the rail is further engaged to anedge of the water or snow activity board.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the rail is engaged with the edgeof the water or snow activity board by an adhesive.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the rail is a single elongatedstrip.

In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for attaching a protective rail to a water sport orsnow sport board comprising the steps of:

-   -   engaging an edge of the sports board with one or more protective        strip, wherein each protective strip is sufficiently flexible so        as to bend around a vertex of the board to continuously engage        with an edge portion adjacent to the vertex of the board.

In an embodiment of the third aspect, the one or more protective stripis made from a thermoplastic.

In an embodiment of the third aspect, the thermoplastic is polyurethane.

In an embodiment of the third aspect, the one or more protective stripis engaged to the edge of the board with an adhesive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a board for a water activity having aprotective rail in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2A is an illustration of a profile cut used in the manufacturing ofa board of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is an illustration of the profile cut of FIG. 2A having oneembodiment of a protective rail in position prior to the rails beingbonded to the profile cut;

FIG. 2C and 2D are illustrations of the protective rails being bonded tothe profile cut;

FIG. 2E is an illustration of the protective rails having been bonded tothe profile cut;

FIG. 2F is an illustration of further cutting of the board after bondingof the rails to remove excess material;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of one step in a method of producing a boardby forming slots in accordance with a second embodiment

FIGS. 3A to 3D are illustrations of the profile cut of FIG. 3 beingbonded with an second embodiment of a protective rail; and

FIG. 3E is an illustration of the profile cut of FIG. 2A being bondedwith the protective rail of FIGS. 3A to 3D.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIG. 1 there is illustrated a board 100 for wateractivities comprising a planar body 102 having a rail member 106arranged to substantially surround an edge 104 portion of the body 102.The board 100, as shown in FIG. 1 is a kite board arranged to support arider on a water surface whilst the rider is participating in kitesurfing. As the person skilled in the art will appreciate, the board 100may be adapted or modified to act as a wake board, surf board, bodyboard, snow board or any other planar body arranged to support a personparticipating in any type of sport or activity on water or snow.

As shown in FIG. 1, the board 100 is defined by a generally planar body102 which is preferably elongated so as to provide sufficient supportfor the rider on the water or snow surface. The board 100 also includesa plurality of vertices 103 which form the corners of the planar body102. These vertices 103 are preferably curved so as to form a smooth orcurvy profile and in turn are advantageous in that a smooth or curvyprofile may reduce friction between the board 100 and the water or snowsurface.

The planar body 102 also has an edge 104 which may be arranged andshaped for performance. Preferably, this edge is relatively thin whencompared with the planar body 102 so that it can be used by a rider tocarve into the water or snow, and in turn manoeuvre the board 100 to adesired position. In one example, where the board 100 is adapted tooperate on a water surface, the edge 104 may be shaped so as to carveinto the water to create different types of turbulences around the boardfor user control. In examples where the board is arranged to operate onsnow, the edge be even thinner as to perform allow the edge and theboard to carve into snow or ice, which in turns increases the frictionbetween the board and the snow or ice surface.

Preferably, the board 100 also includes a protective rail 106 whichsurrounds either partially, substantially or completely, and enclosesthe edge 104 of the board. This protective rail 106 is arranged toprotect the edge 104 from damage, particularly in situations where theboard collides with a hard surface or object during use ortransportation.

The protective rail 106 may be made from a plastic material so as toabsorb much of the pressure or shock caused from collisions or roughhandling. Preferably, as the rail 106 will become a leading edge of theboard 100 once integrated with the board's edge 104, the rail 106 mayalso be arranged to be fairly hard or resilient so as to notsubstantially deform after an impact. This is advantageous in that acollision experienced by the protective rail 106 will not change theboard's edge profile so as to affect its handling characteristics.

Depending on the function of the board and the materials used, the board100 may be manufactured by a number of different methods with numerousdifferent types of materials. In one example, where the material usedincludes wood and fibreglass, the board may be made by the followingsteps:

Step 1—Obtaining a planar wooden plank (or other materials) ofsufficient size;

Step 2—Using a CNC router to cut the profile of the board 100 onto theplank to form a profile cut of the board. This may also be referred toas a CNC profile or CNC profile cut; The CNC profile includes a slotwhich is adjacent to the outline of the board. This slot may then beused to add a protective rail.

Step 3—Bonding one or more protective rails within the slot. These railsmay be plastic pieces which are shaped on a cutter or grinder so as tofit the edge profile of the board.

Step 4—After the rails are bonded within the slot, the excess materialsof the profile cut can then be removed and thus leaving the protectiverail on the edge of the board;

Step 5—Using the CNC router, certain features of the planar surface maybe cut or carved on to the planar surface of the board;

Step 6—Apply and bond fibreglass layers to the profile cut. This has theresult of adding a layer of skin onto the board. In some examples, paintof a protective layer such as lacquer may also be applied to the surfaceof the board for protection;

Step 7—Cut away excess fibreglass layers and wood (or other materials)to form the board; and

Step 8—Apply any additional accessories to the board as desired by therider. These accessories may include anchor points, foot rests or thelike.

With reference to FIGS. 2A to 2E, there is illustrated an example of aprofile cut of a kite board undergoing steps 2 to 5 mentioned above. Asshown in FIG. 2A, a planar plank of timber of sufficient size is cut bya Computer Numerical Control (CNC) router so that the general profile ofa board 100 is cut into the timber. This creates the profile cut 200which is subsequently cut into a finished kite board.

As show in FIG. 2B, the profile cut 200 includes a slot 203 around theedge of the profile cut 200. This slot 203 defines the general outlineof the finished kite board whereby the slot 203, once further processed,becomes the edge of the kite board. As illustrated in FIG. 2B,protective strips 202 may then be glued to the slot 203 such that whenthe board is finally finished, these strips 202 protect the edge of theboard.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2B to 2D, the protective rails 202 are formed byfour strips comprising a top strip 202T, bottom strip 202B and two sidestrips 202S which are bonded within the slot 203 corresponding to eachside of the board.

In the example illustrated in FIGS. 2B to 2D, the strips are formed froma thermoplastic such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plasticwhich is mildly flexible so that straight pieces of ABS plastics can becut into shape and flexed to generally bond to a curved portion of theslot 203 representative of the side of the board. However, as ABSplastics are generally not flexible enough to bend around a vertex ofthe board 100, four separate strips are used to surround the entire edge104 of the board 100.

As shown in FIG. 2E, once the strips are glued to the slots of theprofile cut 200, additional primers, adhesives or bonding agents areused to ensure the edges remain in position. After the strips areengaged to the slots 203, the profile cut 200 may then be further cut bya CNC router as shown in FIG. 2F so that excess materials are removedfrom the profile cut 200 to form the board 100. Once this is completed,the board 100 may then be covered and bonded with fibre glass skins,plastics, paint or lacquer.

The procedure described above is advantageous as the construction of thekite board allows the protective strips to be integrated during theconstruction process and thus forms a much stronger bond between theprotective strips 202 and the board.

With reference to FIGS. 3A to 3E, there is illustrated an alterativemethod of manufacturing a kite board whereby an alternative procedure isused to integrate the protective rail to the kite board. As it will beappreciated by a person skilled in the art, the same procedure can beused to manufacture a board for water or snow sports such as wakeboards, surf boards, body boards or snow boards.

In this embodiment, the method for manufacturing a kite board, or anyboard for a water sport or snow sport includes the steps of: engaging anedge of the sports board with one or more protective strip, wherein eachprotective strip is sufficiently flexible so as to bend around a vertexof the board to continuously engage with an edge portion adjacent to thevertex of the board.

This method of manufacturing a board, once applied, may in one exampleproduce a water or snow activity board comprising: a planar body havingan edge joining one or more vertices of the body, wherein the edge isengaged to a rail member defined by one or more flexible strips eachbeing arranged to be sufficiently flexible so as to continuously engagewith an edge portion adjacent to the one or more vertices.

In this embodiment of the method for manufacturing a kite board as shownin FIGS. 3 and 3A to 3E, a profile cut 300 is firstly prepared by a CNCrouter which cuts the board profile on to a planar plank of wood. Oncethe profile cut 300 is prepared, a protective rail 303, which may havebeen formed prior in a separate location from extruded plastic, isplaced around the edge slots 303A, shown in FIG. 3, of a profile cut 300of the kite board and bonded to the edge slots 303A. Once bonded, theprotective rail 303 will be exposed on the edge of the board after themanufacturing process finishes and thus protect the edge of the board.

As illustrated, the protective rail 303 is of a sufficient length so asto completely surround the edge of the board in one single elongatedstrip, although it is also possible that the protective rail cancomprise more than one strip. The protective rail 303 in this example ismade by extruding Polyurethane plastic through an extrusion aperture tocreate a long continuous strip of the Polyurethane plastic. However,various other materials can be used to make this protective rail 303although any flexible and resilient material which allows the strip tobend around the vertices of the board whilst offering shock absorbingcharacteristics is preferred.

As shown in this example, the protective rail 303 has characteristicswhich are sufficiently flexible so as to be bended into the slots whichcorrespond to the vertices of the board. The rail 303 is then insertedinto the slot 303A and, as shown in FIG. 3C, bonded to the slot suchthat the rail 303 is bonded to the entire edge of the board. Hammeringof the rail 303 into the slot as shown in 3D may also be required as itis preferable that the rail 303 forms a snug fit into the slot 303A.

Once the bonding agent is allowed to set, the rail 303 is thus bonded tothe slot 303A of the profile cut 300. The profile cut 300 may then beprocessed by a CNC router which will cut the shape of the board from theprofile cut 300. In this process, since the rail 33 is already bonded tothe slot 303A, the rail 303 will be bonded to the edge of the board andform the board's protective rail 303 after the excess materials of theprofile cut 300 is cut away by the CNC router.

These embodiments are advantageous in that by using a flexible materialsuch as polyurethane or the like, the protective rail can be bonded tothe board as one continuous strip. As the material is sufficientlyflexible, the strip can be continuously bonded to the vertices of aboard as the strip, due to its flexibility, is able to bend to theminimum radius of the board vertices or outline. This property in turnminimises the time required to bond a protective strip to the edge ofthe board. Furthermore, by using more flexible materials such aspolyurethane plastic to manufacture the strip, there is less wastage ofmaterials as would be the case of harder materials with less flexibilitysuch as ABS plastic strips which needs to be machined and cut to fit theedge of a board.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerousvariations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown inthe specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are,therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive.

Any reference to prior art contained herein is not to be taken as anadmission that the information is common general knowledge, unlessotherwise indicated.

1. A board for water or snow activity comprising: a planar body havingan edge joining one or more vertices of the planar body, and a railmember comprising one or more flexible strips, each flexible stripcontinuously engaging an edge portion of the board that is adjacent tothe one or more vertices.
 2. The board in accordance with claim 1,wherein the one or more flexible strips is continuously engage the edgeof the planar body.
 3. The board in accordance with claim 1, wherein theone or more flexible strips are a material sufficiently flexible tofollow an outline of the one or more vertices.
 4. The board inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the one or more flexible strips are athermoplastic.
 5. The board in accordance with claim 4, wherein thethermoplastic is polyurethane.
 6. The board in accordance with claim 1,wherein the rail member is defined by a single strip continuouslyengaging the edge of the board.
 7. The board in accordance with claim 1,wherein the rail member engages the planar body via a bonding agent. 8.The board in accordance with claim 7, wherein the bonding agent is anadhesive.
 9. The board in accordance with claim 1, wherein the board isa kite board.
 10. The board in accordance with claim 1, wherein theboard is a wake board.
 11. A protective rail for protecting a water orsnow activity board comprising one or more elongated flexible stripsbent around an edge portion adjacent to a vertex of the water or snowactivity board and continuously engaging the edge portion adjacent thevertex.
 12. The protective rail in accordance with claim 11, wherein theone or more elongated strips is a thermoplastic.
 13. The protective railin accordance with claim 12, wherein the thermoplastic is polyurethane.14. The protective rail in accordance with claim 11, wherein the railengages an edge of the water or snow activity board.
 15. The protectiverail in accordance with claim 11, wherein the rail engages the edge ofthe water or snow activity board via an adhesive.
 16. The protectiverail in accordance with claim 11, wherein the rail is a single elongatedstrip.
 17. A method for attaching a protective rail to a sports boardcomprising: engaging an edge of the sports board with a flexibleprotective strip, bending each protective strip around a vertex of thesports board, and continuously engaging the protective strip to an edgeportion of the sports board, adjacent to the vertex of the sports board.18. The method for attaching a protective rail in accordance with claim17, wherein the protective strip is a thermoplastic.
 19. The method forattaching a protective rail in accordance with claim 18, wherein thethermoplastic is polyurethane.
 20. The method for attaching a protectiverail in accordance with claim 17, wherein including engaging theprotective strip to the edge of the sports board with an adhesive.